Source: PHARMAC
“Right now, our decision-making framework—the Factors for Consideration—looks at how a medicine affects the person who needs it, their whānau, and the health system,” says Dr David Hughes, Pharmac’s Director of Advice and Assessment
Like countries such as Australia, Canada, and the UK, our economic evaluations focus on the health system perspective. That means we look at how well a medicine works and what it will cost the health system in New Zealand.
But there are other ways to look at the value of funding a medicine – for example, through a societal lens.
“Medicines can have an impact on New Zealanders well beyond the hospital room. They can help people stay in work, reduce the need for unpaid care, and ease financial pressure on families,” says Dr Hughes.
To begin exploring this idea, Pharmac partnered with researchers at Erasmus University in the Netherlands last year and is now working with the Institute for Medical Technology Assessment (iMTA) at Erasmus University – world leaders of the ‘societal perspective.’
Their pilot study showed that using a societal perspective can change how New Zealand values medicines. Greater value was identified for treatments for chronic conditions affecting working-age people, for example, when broader impacts were considered.
Pharmac is now commissioning two more assessments from iMTA. The Erasmus team will also train Pharmac staff to apply this approach in future assessments.
Pharmac has also been talking with the Canadian Drug Agency (CDA) to share perspectives on measuring societal impacts. At the same time, the CDA has been piloting its own assessment of an expanded societal perspective.
“We’re building our capability to see what it would look like if our assessments reflect the value of medicines not just to the health system, but to the whole of society,” says Dr Hughes.
